There's a small French gastroteque in New York's West Village that I absolutely love. When two of my lovely, but non-residing-New-York-friends came to visit last week it was the first place I suggested. And it was again the local of choice this weekend when my dear friend Ashlea returned to the city after two months away on the Cape. (The food is delicious, the decor is endlessly inviting, and the attractive men behind the bar don't hurt).

They serve, among other things, a pesto dish that I am convinced tastes like a doughnut (a doughnut being the highest level of food perfection, in my book). But what I left thinking about this last time was their shaved brussels sprouts dish--mostly because I thought, you know, I bet I could make something like this (and I bet it would be quite healthy and inexpensive). Trader Joe's sells a bag of prepackaged shaved brussels sprouts that I cut up just a wee bit more. I then added parmesan cheese, toasted (always, always toasted--it brings out the flavor) pine nuts, and a bit of olive oil and sea salt.

That's it! Five ingredients.

(Note: pine nuts are as expensive as liquid gold so I suggest buying them in bulk at Costco, Sam's Club, or Trader Joe's. Buvette's dish uses walnuts as their nut of choice, so that's always an option).